By FCF Staff

After failing to attend press conferences in Toronto, Tuesday and today  in Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White announced this afternoon that Nick Diaz (pictured) will no longer fight welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre as scheduled on October 29^th. Former WEC champion Carlos Condit has been brought in as Diaz’s replacement.

After announcing the change to the UFC 137 headliner, White stated at today’s press conference:

“All I asked the kid to do was play the game this much (holding fingers slightly apart). I need you to do certain things. You have to show up to the press conference, you have to promote this fight. He looked at me and said he would, and he lied to me. I’ve promoted over 1600 fights and this has never happened once. I’d rather pull the fight now than risk him not showing up on the night of the fight. This blows my mind.”

White was not conclusive on what Diaz’s future is in the organization.

When FCF spoke with Diaz’s long time trainer and manager Cesar Gracie in August, he was asked to comment on White’s insistence that the former Strikeforce champion “play the game.”

“I think what he means by saying ‘playing the game’ is being more responsible, maybe doing more interviews, being more media friendly, just doing the things you got to do, showing up at things that Dana wants you to show up to, and that’s fine,” Gracie told FCF last month. “I think Nick’s matured immensely as a person and as a fighter over the last few years. I think he’s treating this more as the business that it is.”

Diaz had not released any official statement regarding the change as of press time.

Condit (27-5) has been awarded a title shot following four consecutive wins, which includes victories over Jake Ellenberger, Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald and most recently Dong Hyun Kim.

UFC 137 will be hosted by the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be available via pay-per-view.